The latest data published by the Joint Council for Qualifications highlighted that a minority of girls chose tech subjects, with just one in five GSCE computing entries coming from female students, a figure that Empiric claims falls short of requirements.

Looking at further breakdowns of the results, the firm, which spearheads the Next Tech Girls campaign, found that girls clearly outstripped their male counterparts in terms of grades. The percentage points difference between the genders achieving A* to A for computing was 4.7 and for ICT was an impressive 9.2.

Steve Brown, programme manager at Next Tech Girls and Director at Empiric, commented: “When we consider that the IT and digital arenas are facing a massive dearth of skills, the idea that over three quarters of female students choose not to take ICT and computing at GCSE level is quite simply concerning. Unless more girls are encouraged to choose this route, the sector will fail to meet the ever-growing demand for talent that is already prevalent.”

“Given that the test results show that girls are ahead of boys in terms of grades, the idea that women aren’t good at IT is made redundant,” continued Brown. “Instead, we believe that girls aren’t choosing this option due to the incorrect assumption of what the work involves, the variety of options available to them and what the routes to such a career are. If more females were aware of the fantastic and varied opportunities available through a career in tech, it’s likely that we’d see the percentage of female GCSE entries increase significantly.”

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Smart Chimps is the creation of freelance editor, writer and media trainer, Heather McLean. Heather has been involved in telecoms journalism since 2001, specialising in mobile since 2002. Find out more